From MTV, Queer Eye For the Straight 8

By PHIL PATTON

Published: March 7, 2004

THEY call it reality television, but the appeal is a fantasy as old as a fairy tale -- specifically, Cinderella.

From radically remaking wardrobes and homes on ''What Not to Wear,'' ''Trading Spaces'' and ''Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,'' it is a short step to making over a car -- the point of ''Pimp My Ride,'' a new show on MTV.

On ''Pimp,'' humble beaters are transformed into the sorts of star cars much seen on TV these days, on shows like ''Riding With Funkmaster Flex'' and ''MTV Cribs: Whips, Rides and Dubs Edition.''

The rapper Xzibit is the host of ''Pimp My Ride,'' which made its debut last week and will appear at 10:30 on Thursday evenings. Each week, a vehicular pumpkin is transformed into a crystal carriage at West Coast Customs in Inglewood, Calif., which more commonly dolls up whips -- that is, really cool cars -- for musicians like 50 Cent and athletes like Tracy McGrady of the Orlando Magic. The garage scenes veer between the drama of ''Monster Garage'' or ''American Choppers'' and the tedium of the security camera at Jiffy Lube.

The first subject was a doozy: a derelict 1988 Daihatsu Hijet van held together with duct tape. The owner of this imported orphan is Wyatt Glenn, a thin 18-year-old with aspirations of rock stardom. (Mr. Glynn wears a T-shirt that reads, ''My other T-shirt is a TransAm.'')

''When I got it, it had golf cart wheels and tires on it,'' he says of the Daihatsu, whose only previous upgrade was replacing those with an old set of Mazda wheels.

Into this $400 bucket, West Coast Customs pours $20,000 in improvements. The hapless Hijet is hauled into the garage past a gleaming red Ferrari Enzo and a Hummer H2 -- the sort of vehicles the company usually works on. ''This is not the worst job we've ever had,'' one of the customizers says. ''But it's close.''

The Hijet is repainted hot blue with silver flames. The old wheels are replaced with 17-inch Giovanna chrome rims -- an alteration that requires widening the sheet metal around the wheel wells.

The West Coast crew even comes up with a high concept for the makeover, a jet-plane theme expressed by installation of airline-style ''Fasten your seat belt'' and ''No smoking'' signs on the ceiling. In defiance of the van's top speed (60 m.p.h.), an aerodynamic wing is added to the roof.

Inside, the customizers add a wraparound couch, a small refrigerator and an audio system equipped with jacks so Mr. Glynn can plug in his electric guitar and use the Hjet as a gigantic amplifier.

A multi-DVD player, with a huge screen, is installed. A video camera on the dash beams views of the road ahead back to passengers in the rear.

''Outta control!'' Mr. Glynn exclaims when he sees his reborn van.

Lest a viewer conclude that the makeover is frivolous, he explains that he has just come to Los Angeles and gets no respect for his car. Therefore, he can't get a job, and without a job he can't go to school, and without going to school he can't start the band that will presumably earn him the cash to hire West Coast to customize a real car for him.

In the next episode, Ms. Nile Jones's 1978 Cadillac Sedan de Ville gets a hot-pink-pearl paint job, a suede headliner and a motorized shoe rack that extends into the trunk.

Photos: The host of ''Pimp My Ride,'' Xzibit, with Wyatt Glenn and his transformed Daihatsu. The sad-sack Japanese microvan, left, before it received a $20,000 Cinderella makeover. (Photographs From MTV)